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Rob Sand to rally in Iowa governor bid with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as Democrats eye a flip
Rob Sand will rally a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for Iowa governor on Sunday
Rob Sand to rally in Iowa governor bid with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as Democrats eye a flip
Rob Sand will rally a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for Iowa governor on Sunday.
Rob Sand to rally in Iowa governor bid with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as Democrats eye a flip
Rob Sand will rally a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for Iowa governor on Sunday.
Rob Sand to rally in Iowa governor bid with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as Democrats eye a flip
Rob Sand will rally a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for Iowa governor on Sunday.
Rob Sand to Rally in Iowa Governor Bid With Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as Democrats Eye a Flip
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Rob Sand will rally a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for Iowa governor on Sunday, kicking off a countdown to November with the support of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. The race for governor between Sand and Republican Zach Lahn stands to be one of ...
Memphis Pride Festival celebrates 50 years of LGBTQ advocacy
The city of Memphis celebrated Pride Month this weekend with thousands attending the 51st annual Memphis Pride Festival.
Fans injured as storm hits West Virginia Super Regional game
Several fans at West Virginia's Super Regional game were injured Saturday when heavy winds blew over an event tent next to Kendrick Family Ballpark, the university said.
Mesquite Entertainment announces Independence Day Weekend lineup at CasaBlanca, Virgin River
Free Poolside Concerts, BBQ and July 4 Specials Set for Mesquite Casinos
Quad Cities Pride Festival draws hundreds to celebrate community and inclusion
Several people gathered at Schwiebert Riverfront Park this weekend for the 2026 Quad Cities Pride Festival, a two-day celebration of community, inclusion, and LGBTQ+ pride.
30 Graduation Gift Ideas
Whether the grad you have in mind is completing 8th, 12th, or beyond….whether you want to buy a small token or something significant…you’ll find a graduation gift pick below. It’s often hard to think of a great graduation gift. Sometimes you just want to give a token to show that you’re proud, and sometimes graduation […]
Focus Entertainment Reveals ‘BioEden’ Coming to PC this September, Console Release to Follow Later
A cozy solarpunk management game was announced earlier today and it looks incredibly cute! Today Focus Entertainment and Broken Arms Games are delighted to u
'Talk of the Town': Voters asked about Democratic politicians’ controversial pasts
‘The Big Weekend Show’ hits the streets of New York City to gauge public sentiment toward politicians with controversial pasts.
Lawmaker blacklisted by Beijing makes long-shot bid to become Taipei mayor
Ruling DPP’s Puma Shen made his name as an outspoken civil defence activist, but faces an uphill battle to unseat the KMT’s Wayne Chiang.
Rochester youth become business savvy with lemonade
More than 60 of Rochester’s youngest residents set up shop this weekend as part of a nationally recognized youth program.
Dodgers on Deck: Sunday, June 7 vs. Angels
The Dodgers finish off their shortest homestand of the year with their third and final game of the weekend against the Angels at Dodger Stadium. Emmet Sheehan closes out his two-start week by starting in the series finale, after lasting at least six innings in three of his last four starts. José Soriano starts for […]
Construction causes power outage at PitCo Health and Human Services
Construction work hit a buried power line at 3 p.m. on Thursday that supplied grid and backup generator power to the Pitkin County Health and Human Services building, leading to necessary repairs that will last through the weekend and into next week.
Backfire News Weekly Recap: June 4–6, 2026
It was a packed week on Backfire News, with coverage spanning Formula 1, NASCAR history, truck culture, collector cars, and a few somber losses across the racing world. Thirteen posts went live between June 4 and June 6, 2026. Here is the full rundown. Formula 1 in the Spotlight F1 dominated the week. A feature on the Monaco Grand Prix experience explored why the street circuit remains the sport's most iconic and unusual weekend, while a look at a $75 million superyacht captured the glamour that
Liverpool one step closer to deal for teenage contract rebel
Liverpool have taken steps in recent transfer windows to shore up the future at centre-back. Ibrahima Konate will officially leave the club on a free transfer once his contract expires this month and ...
Why the Best Business Ideas Come From the Messiest Workflows
The best business opportunities come from identifying broken workflow systems that customers are struggling to patch together manually.
Game 66: Royals at Twins
First Pitch: 1:10 pm CDT TV: Twins.TV Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy Avila. Ryan. Titans of the game. With the series split, the Twins will try to grab the inside track towards a weekend victory, and close the gap on their 30-35 record as they attempt to keep […]
What’s that? Bay City restaurateur adding new cocktail lounge to business mix
The new restaurant represents the latest business venture undertaken by local restaurateur Vince Stuart, who already owns multiple eateries in the Bay City area.
WEEKEND READ: Confronting rare challenges through science, regulation
A family in Travis County is racing to save their baby from an ultra-rare genetic disease, while two New World screwworm cases have been confirmed in Texas, and the legality of owning human bones.
The next goal for weight loss drugs? Fewer injections
Pfizer and Amgen are working on new GLP-1 shots designed to be taken once a month rather than weekly.
Science news this week: Ötzi the Iceman used to make sourdough, Italian teenagers discover Roman villa under school, Google plans to release 64 million mosquitos, and RIP to NASA's Maven probe
June 6, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend
The Kennedys and British royal family were once romantically linked, new book reveals exactly how
A member from each of the Kennedys and the royal family were once romantically linked, Caroline Hallemann's new book reveals. The two dynasties have been connected for decades, dating back to the 1930s.
Vulnerable Republicans increasingly willing to defy Trump’s agenda as midterms approach
President Donald Trump remains the clear leader of the Republican party. Yet his grip is weakening among Republicans on Capitol Hill who’ve grown frustrated by what they view as increasingly brazen decisions in his second term.
It's Your Business has Lisa Wu, Tyrone Wilkens and Dana B. Weaver
News about the latest hires, retirements and more in the Topeka area.
Amir Ibragimov continues rise with important international milestone
Manchester United youngster Amir Ibragimov has hit a significant international milestone in his career.International riseIbragimov has been highly spoken about over the years due to his incredible tal...
Ken Paxton and the election victory that Trump may come to regret
President’s endorsement boosted Senate hopeful in a hotly-contested Republican primary – but Paxton’s baggage may be a liability for the party
Kosovo to hold third election in 18 months as frustration grows over political impasse
Voters in Kosovo are heading to the polls this weekend for the third time in 18 months
Philadelphia heat wave prompts health warnings, outdoor adjustments
Philadelphia hit 92 degrees Friday, marking the second straight day in the 90s, with the hot weather expected to continue through the weekend.
EAST TEXAS POLITICS: Congressman Moran & Tyler Mayor Don Warren
U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) talks about whether he’ll support Ken Paxton after endorsing Sen. John Cornyn in the Senate runoff, which Paxton won, in this week’s edition of East Texas Politics on East Texas Now. Blake Holland also talks with outgoing Tyler Mayor Don Warren.
EAST TEXAS POLITICS: Moran on backing losing candidate in Senate runoff
U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) talked about whether he’ll support Ken Paxton after endorsing Sen. John Cornyn in the Senate runoff, which Paxton won, in this week’s edition of East Texas Politics on East Texas Now.
Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson takes indefinite 'personal leave'
The Reds have provided no details as to the reason Derek Johnson has taken 'personal' leave, nor have they suggested a timeline for his return.
‘Backrooms’ Projected To Drop 67% In Business At Weekend 2 Box Office
The reboot of the Wayans Bros.’ horror spoof "Scary Movie" is scaring away "Backrooms" after one week at the top of the domestic box office.
Multiplayer horror game SAW: Genesis announced for PC
Publisher Bloober Team and developers Broken Mirror Games and Anshar Studios have announced SAW: Genesis, a three-versus-one multiplayer horror game. It will launch first in Early Access for PC via…
CDC report: Ebola outbreak could rival the worst on record unless world acts
New modeling from the CDC shows that if measures aren't taken immediately, this outbreak could sicken more than 20,000 people in the next three months.
Phoebe Bridgers announces no-phone tour, concerts at Intuit Dome
Phoebe Bridgers will set out on the international Lost Tour in September, with two dates over Halloween weekend at Inglewood's Intuit Dome.
Cardinals activate Nootbaar from 60-day injury list
St. Louis outfielder Lars Nootbaar was activated from the 60-day injured list on Friday in time to make his season debut in left field as the Cardinals begin a weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds. Nootbaar, 28, had surgery on both of his heels in the offseason and has not played in the majors this season. In his last rehab game for Triple-A Memphis, Nootbaar hit a solo home run Wednesday and finished 2 for 5 with a walk, four RBIs and two runs scored in an 18-4 victory over Louisville.
Wie West's journey back ends with missed cut at Riviera
2014 U.S. Women's Open winner Michelle Wie West carded a 75-74 in her two rounds at Riviera putting her behind the projected cut. Here are some other notable names not making it to the weekend.
Mesquite Entertainment announces Independence Day Weekend lineup at CasaBlanca, Virgin River
Mesquite Entertainment is marking Independence Day weekend with free poolside concerts, holiday-themed cocktails, and dining specials.
At Age 50, She Started a Business From Her Kitchen Table. Now Her Everyday Household Product Makes $31 Million a Year.
Paula Blankenship inherited her mother's eye for DIY furniture.
Mets' Jorge Polanco: Will not be activated this weekend
Mets' Jorge Polanco: Will not be activated this weekend
Kentucky now knows their opponent in the ACC/SEC Challenge
The Kentucky Wildcats now know who they will play in the 2026 ACC/SEC Challenge, an annual matchup between the two conferences.
This viral NYC World Cup festival brings Africa’s biggest stars to Brooklyn
As New York prepares for one of the busiest weekends of the summer with FIFA World Cup festivities set to draw visitors from around the globe, a
Browns’ Todd Monken accidentally admitted Dillon Gabriel has no future in Cleveland
There doesn't seem to be a future for Dillon Gabriel with the Browns.
Tri-State distillery announces closure, blames declining business in area's downtown
The business opened in November 2018 and was inspired by Kentucky’s bourbon trail.
I've Used Starlink Every Day for 4 Years. Its Speeds Have Taken an Unexpected Turn
Years of testing Starlink from rural Idaho have transformed my home internet access, but my 2026 performance data raises new questions about speed, pricing, and priority tiers.
UNC Kenan-Flagler students work with NC nonprofits
Master of Science in Management students help with challenges like hurricane relief and workforce development.
‘B—ch’ Move? Allen ‘Finessed’ By DDP Bait-And-Switch
This weekend (Sat., June 6, 2026) at UFC Vegas 118, No. 4-ranked Middleweight contender will take a significant step down the ladder to face unranked boxer Edmen Shahbazyan in the co-main event. Usually, there are extenuating circumstances when a Top 5-ranked contender fights outside the rankings. Some kind of losing streak is involved or the […]
Business briefs, June 5
Senators push CMS to reinstate nursing home ownership reporting requirements … New DOJ toolkit could turn EMTs, cops into nursing home watchdogs … Combatting racism in senior living and care requires ‘institutional courage’ to avoid status quo … CNA coverage declined, but few other staffing ramifications of COVID immunity … SNFs, aging Americans helping drive strong interest in healthcare property investment … Kendal launches comprehensive ‘brand evolution’
Farmers turn social media videos into revenue stream to support business
Farmers Zoe Kent and Nick Welker explain how they’ve leveraged social media to generate significant income on ‘The Bottom Line.’
Jake Paul's business partner gives timeline on return to ring after career-threatening injury
Jake Paul's broken jaw from the Anthony Joshua fight is threatening his boxing career, but his promoter sayid the plan is for a 2026 return to the ring.
Weekend Entertainment Roundup for June 4, 2026
Eric Harrison joins LRPR to share upcoming arts and culture events on the weekend entertainment roundup.
HOMETOWN ENTERTAINMENT: Live music, wine festival and historical play
Live music and wine festival among local events happening this weekend
Dodgers on Deck: Friday, June 5 vs. Angels
The Dodgers are back home ever so briefly, with a single-series homestand this weekend against the Angels at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Back in Anaheim from May 15-17, the Dodgers had their way with the Angels in a three-game sweep, outscoring the Halos 31-3. The Angels come to Los Angeles having lost 29 of […]
The Un-Trumping of the Kennedy Center Will Happen Very Soon
An internal memo from the center’s counsel gave staff a June 12 deadline to remove the president’s name from the building’s signage.
Weakened public health powers raise outbreak risks
Some jurisdictions have weakened their public health authorities in response to criticism of lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other COVID-era restrictions.
Eastern Kentucky addiction, behavior health center owner indicted on federal charges in fraud scheme
Timmy G. Robinson Jr. faces one count of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering in a scheme to allegedly defraud two potential buyers of a multi-million dollar Employee Retention Credit offered to certain employers by the Internal Revenue Service, who paid workers qualified wages during and were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eastern Kentucky addiction, behavior health center owner indicted on federal charges in fraud scheme
Timmy G. Robinson Jr. faces one count of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering in a scheme to allegedly defraud two potential buyers of a multi-million dollar Employee Retention Credit offered to certain employers by the Internal Revenue Service, who paid workers qualified wages during and were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kennedy Center orders staff to remove Trump’s name
The Kennedy Center’s general counsel ordered staff on Thursday to remove President Donald Trump’s name from the building by June 12, according to a memo obtained by CNN, in order to comply with a recent court order.
Best of Santa Cruz County entertainment, arts & food events this weekend, June 4-7
With the weekend nearly here, check out things to do around Santa Cruz County with a recommendation from Lily Belli and a specially curated list from Lookout's BOLO events calendar.
Trump says he plans to attend G7 summit, shortly after UFC event at White House
In a video posted to TikTok, the president likened the UFC arena being constructed to Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower
GKBA: Business Growth, Technology & Innovation with ITva Technologies
On this episode hosted by Carlos Ribero, Chairman of the Greater Kendall Business Association, guest Maricel Miranda, Director of Business Development at ITva Technologies, joins the conversation to discuss business growth, technology solutions, and innovation in today’s evolving marketplace. They explore how businesses can leverage technology to improve efficiency, strengthen operations, and remain competitive in
Entertainment: A Weekend of Festivals and Parades
Including PrideFest, Metal Fest, Highland Games and Fiesta Puerto Rico.
Weekend Entertainment | Wrestling Returns to Covelli Centre
The AEW “Collision” televised wrestling show will return to Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday.
Trump’s DOJ enlists partisans, conspiracy backers to probe president’s political foes
An FBI agent who wanted to investigate “Italygate,” the 84-year-old wife of a top Justice Department official and a Ken Paxton lawyer are all part of the effort.
Detroit Lions Draft Pick OUT FOR SEASON After Tearing ACL
Detroit Lions rookie wide receiver Kendrick Law has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entire 2026 NFL season.
Paul Skenes Sends Clear Message To Himself After Astros Outing
Skenes knows he has to go deeper in the games.
Experience the Excitement of The World’s Game in EA SPORTS FC™, Where History Is Playable
Fans worldwide can experience The World’s Game like never before with the latest international football update, available at no additional cost* in EA SPORTS FC™ 26 and EA SPORTS FC™ Mobile. Plus, fans yet to jump into the action in EA SPORTS FC™ 26 can pick up The World’s Game Edition to receive a Gold Starting XI Pack and three untradeable Player Picks. As the summer of international football begins, EA SPORTS FC™ brings fans closer to the drama, intensity, and passion of global competition with The World’s Game Update, available now at no additional cost in EA SPORTS FC™ 26 and EA SPORTS FC™ Mobile. History is playable in EA SPORTS FC™, as fans can play, celebrate, and engage with football culture across multiple modes in an experience inspired by the global game. EA SPORTS FC The World's Game Edition - Play Now WATCH THE WORLD’S GAME TRAILER FEATURING JUDE BELLINGHAM, ENDRICK, PEDRI, WESTON MCKENNIE, ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIĆ, AND DAVID BECKHAM With 53 fully licensed national teams,
Cowboys Headlines: Another WR signed, Pickens price tag rising
The latest news and notes around the Cowboys and NFL.
RFK Jr. seeks to peek at Americans’ medical records for clues on autism and vaccines
U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pursuing federal government access to most Americans’ medical records, in a quest to research a link between vaccines and autism — a connection the medical establishment studied for decades and flatly rejects.
RFK Jr. Seeks To Peek at Americans’ Medical Records for Clues on Autism and Vaccines
To collect and scrutinize millions of Americans’ health data, U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to work with state organizations that help health systems share medical records. In Nebraska, millions in federal dollars has flowed into one nonprofit cooperating with Kennedy’s project.
Why Does Roast Chicken Taste So Good? Inside the Science Behind the Flavors We Love
When we cook our favorite meals, what happens to the carbo-hydrates, proteins and fats? I confess I am a less-than-average cook, but God loves a trier. I remember being about 23 years old and tryin…
Will AI Replace Magic? The Bigger Threat May Be the Audience
AI may not master sleight of hand anytime soon, but it could weaken the human desire to gather, watch, and wonder together
Nottingham Forest Eyeing Move for €45m Juventus Forward
Nottingham Forest Transfer News: Lois Openda Emerges as Intriguing Summer TargetForest Eye Openda OpportunityNottingham Forest’s summer planning has taken an intriguing turn, with Gianluca Di Marzio...
A Moonlit Earth as Seen From Artemis II
An astronaut’s photo, taken en route to the Moon, reveals our planet and its place in space in a novel way.
Weekly Entertainment Report, June 4-7: Live music and lively arts in Southern NH » Nashua Ink Link
Music and lively arts remains at the core of the human experience. Celebrate humanity this weekend!
Cleveland Browns: Preseason schedule is officially official
Cleveland opens on the road before two games at home. How will new HC Todd Monken play it with his starters this August?
Public health experts sound alarm on Kenya Ebola facility
Presented by Planned Parenthood{beacon} Health Care Health Care PRESENTED BY The Big Story Infectious disease physicians sound alarm on Kenya plan Several prominent in…
Health department investigates tuberculosis case at Lloyd Memorial High School
The Northern Kentucky Health Department is investigating a case of active tuberculosis linked to a student at Lloyd Memorial High School, with contact tracing underway for those who had prolonged exposure.
Shedeur Sanders completely outclasses Deshaun Watson
The Cleveland Browns are entering the franchise’s first season under new head coach Todd Monken after letting Kevin Stefanski go from the same role shortly into the offseason. Now, Monken is tasked with determining who Cleveland’s starting quarterback will be heading into the season. The offseason battle for the job is widely viewed by fans,…
American capitalism has taken an apocalyptic turn
Millenarian thinking permeates business and markets
Hackensack Meridian Health Opens Nation’s First Health & Wellness Center In A Major Travel Hub
The Metropark Health & Wellness Center is the first comprehensive health and wellness facility in the nation to be located within a major transit hub.
Google's new Gemma 4 open AI model is sized for your laptop
Gemma 4 12B uses a new encoding scheme and token prediction to punch above its weight.
Alsobrooks, public health advocates warn of a 'leadership vacuum' at HHS under RFK Jr.
US Sen. Angela Alsobrooks calls again for removal of US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as deadly outbreaks of hantavirus and Ebola pose international public health threats
Hackensack Meridian Health and Georgian Court University Form Psychiatric Care Collaborative to Expand Student Access and Support
Hackensack Meridian Health and Georgian Court University unite to enhance psychiatric care for students, addressing mental health needs.
HETDEX opens massive Cosmic Noon dataset to scientists, novices and AI
The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX)—which recently completed the largest survey ever taken of the early universe—has released all of its immense, information-rich database to the ...
Judge with intimate ties to Dem Party's key Russia Hoax players behind latest anti-Trump decision
Trump accuses Obama-appointed Judge Cooper of conflict of interest over Kennedy Center ruling, citing wife Amy Jeffress' work for Biden and Democrats.
Meta's AI agent for WhatsApp Business is now available globally
WhatsApp will charge businesses for using its AI agent based on token usage
The cult of objectivity has broken consciousness science
With 22 competing theories and no consensus in sight, the science of consciousness is lost. In this exclusive IAI interview, Berkeley psychedelics researcher and bestselling author of a new book on consciousness Michael Pollan insists that even though consciousness lies beyond traditional forms of scientific investigation, we should resist becoming dualists who see it as something radically different from ordinary stuff in the world. Instead, he makes the case for reimagining science itself: it must stop reaching for objective descriptions of physical reality, and instead embrace subjectivity as the indispensable core of all inquiry. Alasdair Craig: How did your experiences with psychedelics get you interested in consciousness?Michael Pollan: One of the things that happens on psychedelics is that they foreground consciousness. What formerly seemed perfectly transparent and ever present—and yet, non-existent, as water is to fish—suddenly you see it. The metaphor I use in the book is that psychedelics sponge the windscreen. Suddenly you realize: wow, there’s a windscreen, there is this phenomenon that’s mediating my relationship to reality. This is not an unusual realization on psychedelics. I think a lot of people are called to think about consciousness after psychedelic experiences. So that was the proximate inspiration for A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness (2026).And then there was a more specific way in which psychedelics influence the book. That was a particular experience I had on psilocybin. I had the sensation that the plants in my garden were conscious and returning my gaze, with their own point of view and agency, and I got curious as to how to evaluate an insight like that. I mean, what’s the truth quotient of insights you have on psychedelics? And I was reading William James—who, of course, wrote beautifully about mystical experience—and he said, we can’t judge the metaphysics here, but we should pay attention to two criteria: (1) How useful is it to think this is true? He was a pragmatist, of course. And (2) can we subject it to other ways of knowing to validate it? Because maybe we should treat these insights as hypotheses. And that’s kind of how I approach psychedelics, as a great generator of hypotheses, but they need to be tested against other ways of knowing. And so that led me down this long path exploring the science of plant intelligence and plant sentience.AC: I love your phrase, “smudging the windowpane of conscious experience.” So do you now start to think, actually, even when I’m not on psychedelics, I’m just seeing a screen all the time, which is not reality, but rather is my conscious experience, behind which reality is hidden?MP: Well, you know, not when I’m brushing my teeth and making breakfast! But yes, in meditation, certainly. I mean, one of the things you realize is that my experience happens to be this way now, but it could be another way. And many things can affect it. My morning coffee changes the screen in various ways, sharpens certain things.___The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness.___There’s this wonderful metaphor in Aldous Huxley’s book, The Doors of Perception, where he thinks we channel consciousness, and that what the brain does is edit it, and there’s a reducing valve. And psychedelics open the reducing valve wider. I don’t know that I’m ready to buy into the idea that consciousness exists outside brains, but I do love that metaphor because there are times when you are more conscious than others. I know I’ve switched from window pane to valve, but you know, a camera aperture can open wider or narrower. And I do have a sense of that. I have a sense of when I’m being less conscious, and when I’m being more conscious, by which I mean, you know, more present, taking in more sensory information. So when you start thinking about consciousness as a matter of degree, that changes things also.I think when we scroll on social media, obviously, we’re conscious. But minimally so, because we don’t have to generate our own thoughts. We’re basically taking these little hits from other people and thinking their thoughts.The process of writing this book made me kind of relativize everyday consciousness as just one type, which is exactly what William James said. Normal consciousness is one type, separated by the flimsiest of screens from the other types.AC: If we stick with the metaphor of the smudge on the window that you get when you take psychedelics, it seems like we’re saying that consciousness has become like an object that you’re looking at, right? You’re looking at the smudge and that just is consciousness. But sometimes we’ll talk about consciousness as a state that you’re in, rather than an object you can perceive. You’re either conscious or you’re not conscious. So it’s difficult to really know what sort of thing we’re talking about when we talk about consciousness, right?MP: Yeah. When you say that consciousness is an object, what’s the subject? Consciousness also? The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness. So we’re in a closed loop and when we get a perspective on consciousness, we’re not achieving any distance from it. That’s one of the problems with studying consciousness. Science is predicated on an objective, God’s eye view of things, and you never get that. There’s no such thing. SUGGESTED VIEWING The brain filters consciousness With Àlex Gómez-Marín But, yeah, there is this sense, I think, that consciousness is something you can approach. Certainly, when you’re writing and trying to recreate a conscious experience, it’s a fiction, but you’re standing back from it, and looking at it. But there’s no real subject-object distinction.AC: That’s so interesting, because when philosophers start talking about consciousness, they often talk about what they call “qualia”, which is their word for the felt experience of, say, the color red. And I think that way of speaking often makes us think of the qualia as an object, which you can see out there: the redness of red. But, as you say, we also want to collapse the subject-object distinction when we talk about consciousness. So there’s something strange going on here…MP: Oh, yeah, there are many strange things going on! *AC: Let’s talk about the varieties of consciousness. Apart from perceptions, there are, pains, emotions, thoughts, and so on. What is it that holds all this diversity together so that they all count as instances of consciousness? What is it that they all have in common?MP: Yeah, that’s a really good question. I mean, there is sensory information, right? Which we perceive coming from the world outside ourselves. And then there’s internal information, which is what’s called interoception. And this is very important too. This is where feelings come from—what are sometimes called homeostatic feelings—that are intended to get the brain to keep us in these narrow ranges of temperature and glucose and so on. That’s a very important part of consciousness. And according to some researchers, who I think are probably right, this is where consciousness begins, with these very primal feelings, like hunger and thirst and warmth and itch, and things like that. And then there’s this third thing, which is our thinking about thinking.And what holds all this together is, I think, the sense of self. Consciousness generates a self: it is probably an organizing principle. All this stuff is happening to the self. It’s a construct, I think, but it is very useful. It can connect all these different streams of consciousness to a single being or a place, metaphorically speaking.* AC: The first half of your book is about the science of consciousness. Is consciousness just another thing, like black holes or the origin of life, which we don’t yet understand, but which we should have every hope that science will one day get to the bottom of, or is there something special about consciousness that makes this unlikely?MP: It depends how you define science. As we define science now, it’s going be very difficult. Science since Galileo has had a set of rules or assumptions, which is that the proper remit of science is to deal with the objective, quantifiable, third-person world. And the physical sciences have done amazing work under that set of limitations. Galileo—for tactical reasons, not for philosophical reasons—said science should not deal with the soul, which at the time was what consciousness was considered to be. So what is subjective, what is qualitative, what is first person, we’re going to leave to the church, he said. And this was a good agreement, and it probably kept many scientists from getting burned at the stake. But it leaves science in an awkward spot, now that it wants to venture into that territory of qualities, of first-person experience. And I don’t think it has the proper tools. I think it will have to add to its toolkit in some way, and find a way to bring in phenomenology, or lived experience and introspection, which science is usually dismissive of.The challenge—we alluded to it earlier—is that the only tool you have to study consciousness with is consciousness. And what I mean by that is, the whole scientific enterprise is a manifestation of consciousness. As much as scientists like to flatter themselves with this idea that they attain a godlike perspective on what they study, when it comes to consciousness, there’s no such thing. And it’s fine for all the things you can step outside of and study from that perspective. But two areas it won’t work are consciousness and cosmology.___It could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.___With cosmology, too, you have to study the universe from inside the universe. It’s not that cosmologists haven’t made progress. We know a lot about the age of the universe and expansion and things like that. But we can’t penetrate what happened before the Big Bang. We just don’t have the tools because we can’t stand outside.The fact that there are 22 full-scale theories of consciousness tells you all you need to know: we’re kind of lost. And I was surprised to find that we are more lost than I thought we were when I started this. I thought that there’d be leading theories, or that we had experiments that we could conduct that would nail some of this down. And the fact is, we don’t.So, I don’t know if science can solve it. But, of course, we can change the rules of science. A really influential book for me was a book called The Blind Spot, by two physicists, Marcello Gleiser and Adam Frank, and a philosopher, Evan Thompson. It’s a reminder that science is a social practice. It’s organized in a certain way and it can be organized in a different way. But it has this huge blind spot at the center of it, which is its failure to recognize that it is a form of consciousness itself, and it doesn’t have a good way of taking account of lived experience.AC: On the one hand, I think you want to resist traditional dualism, which would say that consciousness is something magical, something supernatural, right? But on the other hand, you’re accepting that there is this division in reality between the stuff that you can investigate objectively and measure, and so on—the stuff that science has been good at finding out about—and consciousness, which, for some reason, you can’t objectively measure. Some would take this to suggest that the dualism is actually right. Is there a way of reconciling these two strands of your thinking?MP: To call it magical is full of value judgement. I mean, you could just say immaterial. The interesting thing is, I think, that intuitively we’re all dualists. And I don’t know whether that’s because we’re children of Descartes and other cultures are less dualist than we are. Or it may be because that’s how consciousness feels. It feels different than the body. It feels separate from the body. But I don’t think we should trust that intuition.AC: So let’s think about ways that science might be changed to get at consciousness. I suppose the starting point would be the way that you begin the second half of your book. You have this nice line from William James, where he says, “We now begin our study of the mind from within.” Could you give us some sense of the ways of studying the mind from within? What does this involve?MP: I don’t know what that science looks like. But one of the points I’m making is that it depends on the humanities. I found that I learned as much, if not more, about consciousness, from reading novels and poetry. There is a sense of the fullness and complexity of consciousness that you don’t get in any scientific account. I interviewed this stream-of-consciousness writer and I approached her as an expert on consciousness, and she is. So I think that dialogue is really important.I’m reading Ben Lerner’s new novel, Transcription. Just read the first page of this novel: it’s a man falling asleep on a train, going to conduct an interview, and there is the experience of being in the train, facing backwards, there’s the view outside, but there’s a reflection of himself through which he’s seeing outside. There’s the memory of dropping his kids off at school. All this is going on in one moment of consciousness. Scientists aren’t going anywhere near that. But I think it’s useful for them to think about. That’s where we’re trying to go: like, how does such a layered experience happen? You know, it also makes you wonder, could a computer ever do this? And it gives you some doubt.*AC: Before we get to computers, perhaps we could talk briefly about plants. How did you come to feel that they are sentient?MP: Well, it was a psychedelic experience, and it’s not unusual on psychedelics. In fact, there’ve been studies about how people become animists during psychedelic experience. Their belief in animism arises after a single psychedelic experience.You know, most scientists would say this is all a myth. But we have only 400 years of the age of enlightenment and science. Before that, we were animists, and if you go around the world, most indigenous cultures are still animists, and children are animists, by and large, until they go to school. So it could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.As I said, I wanted to test this idea, and see whether there was conventional scientific evidence for it. And there’s fascinating work going on in a field that calls itself—in a rather cheeky way—plant neurobiology. These are people who fully realize there are no neurons in plants, but they’re trolling conventional botanists! And they’re doing experiments that are demonstrating that plants can learn and remember, which is kind of amazing: how do you store a memory without neurons? They’re finding plants that can solve problems, that can hear and see. In fact, they have 20 senses to our five or six. For example, a bean plant looking for something to twine, and given a pole within eight inches or so of it, knows where that pole is and will aim its spiraling reach at that pole. What is that about? Is it bouncing signals off of it?One of the spookiest things is the fact that the same anesthetics that put us out put plants out. You might think that plants are already out, but they’re not. They’re just slow. If you take a plant with a fast behavior, like a Venus flytrap, and give it an anesthetic, it will stop reacting. So you have to ask yourself, what is lost when the plant is anaesthetized? Some state of alertness, of awareness, of its environment, of reactivity. I’m not prepared to call that consciousness, but maybe it’s sentience—which is a simpler form of consciousness, and involves the ability to sense what’s going on in your environment and assess what’s good and bad for you and act appropriately. That may be a universal quality of life.AC: Let’s turn from plants to AI. You point out that LLMs are trained on the internet rather than direct interactions with reality. You put this really nicely when you say the internet is not the world so much as a shadow cast by the world. So LLMs are living in this kind of shadow world, or in Plato’s cave, as you put it. What’s the significance of this for AI consciousness and moral consideration? And, to recall the beginning of our conversation, if we’re stuck behind a veil or screen of consciousness, are we also stuck in a kind of shadow world?MP: I don’t think they’re the same shadow worlds because our world includes nature and other people. And even if it’s mediated in some ways... There is a reality out there, and we are in relation to it, through consciousness. There’s friction with it. What’s missing from the LLMs is that friction with the real world. There’s more to the world than human representation, which is what they’re dealing with. And that means that so far, AI is a cultural technology for combining thoughts we’ve already had. SUGGESTED VIEWING Cracking the code for thought With Roger Penrose, Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski, Max Tegmark, Güneş Taylor Genuine creativity is more than collage. A lot of what AI does now is tantamount to collage, putting this with that and you know, that’s part of art, certainly. But there are also genuinely new ideas that come into the world that don’t come in through manipulating the representations we already have. So it remains to be seen whether AIs can be truly creative in that more radical sense.But my arguments against AI becoming conscious have to do with the fact that the idea of AI consciousness is based on this faulty metaphor that the brain is a computer. There are dimensions in which the brain is like a computer—it certainly does its share of computation. But computers have this sharp distinction between hardware and software, and brains don’t. In a brain, hardware and software are identical. Every memory is a physical change to the brain. Brains are not interchangeable in the way computers are. So this idea that you could take the consciousness out and somehow run it on another substrate, a silicon substrate, seems foolhardy.Anyway, it’s a more extended argument, and I may be wrong. And when we move to computers that aren’t based on silicon—neuromorphic computers and things like that—all bets may be off.AC: Regarding your point about LLMs being stuck in the world of our representations—the internet or whatever—and not being able to interact with reality, are these representations, the world of the internet, themselves part of reality? We’ve created the internet, but it’s still a real thing that exists. And so while the LLMs may be trapped within that part of reality, they’re nevertheless within reality and interacting with it and so on. So it’s not obvious that there’s a barrier there to them becoming conscious and being creative.MP: Yeah, I mean, if our consciousness is built out of human culture, which is what we’re talking about with all those representations. But I tend to think consciousness comes a bit more out of nature and friction with the natural world, but...AC: So there’s a fundamental divide between the natural world and human artefacts?MP: And we lose track of that, and especially people in this computer world. You know, the people who are creating these AI systems, my guess is they’ve been into video games since the age of three, and they didn’t go outside a lot. And their own contact with nature is somewhat limited. I could be wrong, it’d be a very interesting thing to ask, all the wizards of AI, whether they like to go fishing and hiking and do things like that. Or were they on computers from a very early age? I interviewed Blake Lemoine, the Google engineer who came to believe that LaMDA, the Google LLM out at the time, was conscious and deserved personhood. It was very clear that he didn’t see a distinction between this bubble in which he lived and the real world. And I think we’ve all been distanced from the natural world, and this is taking us even further away. But it’s still there, you know, and we still have bodies, and we’re still mortal, and we don’t live in a simulation.AC: I think that’s a great place to finish. Michael Pollan, thank you very much!
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